Random mumblings of an SSE Scott Howard's Weblog

A few months ago I found myself planning what to take for my 5 week trip to the USA and Peru.  Once the essentials were covered (the camera, the tripod and the like) I came to the age-old decision - to take my notebook or not.

Of course, being a geek, the obvious answer was "hell yes!", but when you're already carrying over 10kg (22 pounds) of camera gear, the thoughts of adding an additional few kilograms of fragile computer to the carry-on luggage isn't as tempting as it should be.

In the end I decided to compromise. Rather than taking my existing notebook, I'd buy a new, smaller, lighter one - a Sony UX17.  OK, so the truth was that I had pretty much wanted a UX17 from the day I had first seen a picture of one, and even more so from the day I first played with one at the local Sony store, so it was more a case of a solution looking for a problem - and I'd found my problem!

For those who haven't see the UX17 (or the UX280 in the US) it's a fully featured notebook which is roughly the same size as a typical paperback novel, and not that much heavier than one at a tiny 517 grams (about 18 ounces).

Of course, with such a small form factor there's compromises - the most obvious being the screen, which is less than 1/4 of the area of the normal "ultra-light" notebooks at only 4.5", and the keyboard which is even smaller than the screen. The other specs are at the low end of current systems, but still adequate for most tasks - a 1.2Ghz Intel Core Solo U1400 processor, 512Mb memory (UX280 is 1Gb), 30Gb hard disk (UX280 is 40Gb), 802.11a/b/g wifi, Bluetooth, two cameras (yes, two - it is a Sony after all), plus CF, MemoryStick and USB slots. Not bad for 517 grams!

 So after 5 weeks on the road, from the bright lights of Broadway, to the beaches of Miami, to the ruins of Machu Picchu and the Amazon Jungle I've got to say that this is the greatest travelling geek toy ever - at least for someone who takes a lot of photos.  The keyboard is a real limiting factor - it's fine for tapping out a basic email, but it's certainly not designed for the touch-typist. The screen is far less of a limiting fact that I first thought it would be.  Even for viewing and editing photos it's excellent, due mainly due to it's relatively high resolution (for it's size) of 1024 x 600 pixels, and the touch-screen and stylus which makes editing much easier than using a mouse.

For someone who takes far more photos than I should (my record this trip was over 600 in one day), and as a general rule hates writing long emails, this makes it the perfect on-the-road PC for me. The ability to view, edit and even upload photos whilst on the go was brilliant, and meant that I was able to keep my Flickr account up to date with photos as I went - in fact the longest time between any photo being taken and available on the web was about 4 days, and that's only because there's no WiFi on the Inca Trail!

 

 The Good :

• It's small - real small!
• It's fast - at least for it's size.
• The screen, though small, is clear and high-res at 1024x600 and has a very accurate touch-screen.
• Built-in everything - Wifi, Bluetooth, USB, Firewire (on the docking station only), Compact Flash, finger-print reader - just no optical drive. (The US version also has EDGE wireless built in)
  

The Bad :

• The keyboard. OK for web browsing or a quick email, but not much more.
• The "mouse". Slow to use accurately, and the texture wears off far to easily - although the touchscreen/stylus makes up for it.
• Battery life. The quoted 3.5" hours is optimistic as you'd expected, although I did managed to get almost 2 hours of Divx playback out of it. In general 2-3 hours seems to be the norm.
  

And then there's the outright silly. As well as a functional docking station, it comes with a tiny plastic stand that can be used to told it upright on a table. Between this stand, a USB keyboard (I have a small travel keyboard that is far more functional that the built in one) and the touchscreen/stylus it should be possible to turn this into a reasonably functional "desktop" setup, rather than hand-held as you'd normally use it. I say should because for some reason Sony decided to put the power connector on the bottom of the unit, which means that you can't use the stand whilst it's plugged into power - only whilst on batteries. I'm guessing that this is one of the compromises they had to make to keep the system so small/light, but it's a real limiting factor if you're trying to use it in a hotel room/office/etc for any period of time.

 Overall, as I said above, it's probably the best "geek toy" I've ever owned. Even if I only use it for 1 or 2 months of the year it was worth every cent that I paid for it! Sure, basically everything about it is a compromise in some form or other, but when you're "adventure travelling", a 517 gram compromise is a better option than either carrying 2+ kg of standard notebook, or taking no notebook at all. At least, it is when you're a geek! :)